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She stalked after him as she would any prey, picking up his scent on the path she picked 'round the Roost. She did not know his scent, which meant she did not know him. Despite the fact that he wore her brother on his coat, Savan would meet him for herself and judge him as she judged everyone. With a critical but fair eye.

The rain dampened his scent, but by the time it began to fall and patter against the ground around her, his dark form had already come into her line of sight. Her strides lengthened then, moving at a pace that allowed her to catch up with the wolf that bore the scent of the star-chosen vale.

“Ao konīr! — You there!” She called to him, her voice rising to reach out to him. Would he stop?

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Ah, he was quick to get aggressive, quick to demand her identity. She leveled that icy star at him, appraising his posture, his demeanor. Yes. This must be the man that Faust had told her about. Savan approved of his protectiveness, of his immediate move to defend their home.

“Savan. Faust’s sister by blood.”

It was all she said before she lept forth, snapping those shiny teeth at his face or his ear, purposefully missing. Turning to face him again, she lowered her front half slightly with a challenging grin, her attitude saying everything she needed to.

Spar with me.

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Just like everything before, the man was quick to react. She let him barrel towards her, ducking her head to push her shoulder into the oncoming freight train. It rocked her backward, made her dig her claws in to hold herself in place. Her muscles strained for a moment before she changed tactics; a train pushing against a train would result in nothing more than both of them getting tired. Instead, she threw a leg over the back of his neck and sought to grapple him down to the ground.

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There, he was on the ground, and yet he did not hesitate to still use his teeth to ward against her efforts to best him. Dancing backwards out of the reach of his nips, Savan instead took this moment to lunge closer and grab his tail with her own jaws. There was no pressure beyond a tight hold, opting to drag him through the grass on his back, an amused glint in her eye.

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A kick to the face. It smarted, of course, but it did not hurt in the way it would have if they had been doing anything other than sparring, in the loosest sense of the word. Savan barked a laugh, turning to step away and shake herself off before circling back and looking at him with a shark-like grin.

“Faust did well to recruit you.” Pride in her voice that Faust's judgement was so consistent and reliable. “Skoros iksis aōha brōzi? What is your name?” She spoke in their mother tongue first, and then translated for him; if he was to be one of them, to live among the stars with them, then he would speak like them too.

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Prvak. A foreign name, the likes of which Savan had never heard. She wondered where he was from. Then again, did it truly matter, now that he was here with them? Not really.

Her tail flicked as her chin raised, eyeing him with that icy — and in this moment playful — stare. “Me,” She parroted confidently, ears thrusting forward to catch his next words, ones that she certainly did not speak. But the born-again girl had a way with tongue, catching on to them quickly when guided through them. “Prvi ratnik.” She rolled the words across her tongue, and then adjusts her consonants and tried again. “Prvi ratnik.”

And then, once again in her own language, along with a translation for him. “Skoros gaomas ziry nūmāzma? What does it mean?”

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First warrior. Savan's innards writhed proudly, a fierce grin take her maw for a moment. It was a more real expression than most got the privilege of seeing. “Again,” She would demand, as sharp as a snakebite. “Say it again.” This, she sought to learn, an aggressive thirst for knowledge always having hold of her.

“Tell me of your story, Pravk.” Another demand, as she turned to begin walking the path 'round the Roost marked with all the telltale signs of a pack freshly formed.

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She snorted at his answer. Secretive then? She’d pry it from him eventually. Savan would make her mission to do so, as she did not like being denied the things that she wanted. And what she wanted was his past. What made him him. She would have it, the starblessed girl decided. In time, she would have it.

Her story, however, was one that made that fire within rage, a supernova burning brilliantly, fiercely, dangerously. Her eyes gained a hardened edge as she glanced to him, wondering if he knew what he asked and knowing then that he did not. The glare was not for Prvak but for the man that had littered her soul with such scars.

“We grew up together. Faust and I. All our friends here: Tamir, Tove, Raenar… We lived a good life.” Until that day. “We always knew that our father was…” Her brow furrowed as she drew in a breath and pushed it out. She hadn’t actually told the story to anyone, she supposed. Faust had seen it first hand, and then she hadn’t been around after that.

“I found him abusing our mother. Hurting her. Unspeakable things. I attacked him and he… bested me. Broke me.” Her own voice cracked, and her face turned involuntarily, as if to hide that mounting anger, the pain, the scars. Savan wasn’t ashamed of them, but more ashamed that she’d failed to protect her family. “He tortured me in front of them all. Took my eye. Ripped apart my throat. Hamstrung me. And then he killed me.”

Yet, her head lifted proudly. She’d gone down protecting the ones she’d loved, as much as she could. “Here, I was reborn. Upon that peak,” She indicated it with her eyes and nose. “The Star Mother saw fit to reunite Faust and I, to give us another chance at happiness. So I will see that it happens.”

It was odd that she felt lighter for sharing, for telling someone about what had happened. It had been unspoken thus far. A weight lifted from her shoulders. Savan looked to Prvak with an intensity that burned as brightly as her rage. “I will let nothing stop that from happening.”
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She tripped, stunned. The two toned girl caught herself, barely, before whipping around to look at him. Her blizzard cast eyes were sharp, suspicious, and… glassy.

I see you.

Had Faust said such a thing to him? Did he know how important of a phrase that was to them? Did he know the weight it carried?

She closed their distance, watching him as carefully as she might a snake. There, stopping before the man, she looked into his eyes and held his gaze for what felt like an eternity. Savan hesitated, only slightly, before she leaned in and touched her forehead to his.

“Nyke ūndegon ao. I see you.”

She lingered for a moment, surprised at this… feeling. This connection.

And then it was gone, broken, as Savan stepped back, clearing her throat.

“That is our custom. We do not say such a thing lightly, ever. Nyke ūndegon ao.”
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His pronunciation was not the best, but it was not something she corrected him on. It would have taken something away from this moment and while Savan felt far away from most, there was a closeness suddenly; as if he was reaching out to her across that chasm.

She did not reach back. She couldn’t.

Her wall solidly back in place, Savan nodded. “Correct. Now come. We will make a round of the borders.” And just like that, she was cold and proud once more, turning to resume their walk.
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Ah, he made such effort. It was a sad thing that the energy would be wasted on her; perhaps he'd find another creature to turn such attention to, but the star-spotted girl was not willing to be that creature. Their moment of closeness had let Savan lean in before she reeled backwards and cemented that barrier between them. There would be none other than a select few men that she would hold close to her heart, unwilling to trust another masculine soul so implicitly again.

She would snipe back at him with those glistening teeth of hers, though her own gesture was one that sought to convey a get back to work style attitude; short and firm. A solid click!

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